Two important awards were presented by noted philanthropists and patrons of faith and values films: Dr. Jack Templeton, president and chairman of the John Templeton Foundation, and Foster Freiss, head of the Freiss Family Foundation.

Out of this year’s semifinalists, 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney studios garnered the highest number of nominations in the Best Movies for Families category, with Fox having five semifinalists and Disney having four semifinalists. Magnolia Pictures’ documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” was a surprise nomination, completing the list of family films along with New Line’s “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” and DreamWorks’ “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” and “Rise of the Guardians.”

Movieguide Awards honors two categories of films: The Ten Best Movies for Families and the Ten Best Movies for Mature Audiences are awarded to films that exhibit moral values and/or a redemptive storyline. Any feature film can be nominated, regardless of box office gross or number of major stars. Movies rated G or PG are eligible for the “Family” category, while those rated PG-13 or R may be nominated in the “Mature” category.

“Most people want good to triumph over evil, and all over the world people are looking for love, peace, and joy,” Baehr, Movieguide president, told WND in an exclusive interview. “Movieguide has been able to demonstrate to the heads of the major movie studios in Hollywood that movies of faith and values are also successful money-making movies, typically at the top of the box office revenue list year after year.”

Dr. Templeton and Dr. Baehr presented the $100,000 Epiphany Prize for Most Inspiring Movie of 2012 to “Les Misérables,” and the $100,000 Epiphany Prize for Most Inspiring Television Program of 2012 to “The American Bible Challenge.”

Epiphany Awards are supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation and are presented for the movie and television program of the year that best helps people know and understand God.

Foster Freiss presented the $50,000 Freiss Free Enterprise Award for Movies to “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” while also nominated were “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Here Comes the Boom,” “Won’t Back Down,” “Snow White and the Huntsman” and “The Odd Life of Timothy Green.”

The Freiss Free Enterprise award is supported by a grant from the Freiss Family Foundation and is presented for the one movie of the year that, though fine craftsmanship and inspirational storytelling, does the most to encourage appreciation of free markets, ownership and stewardship.

Lynn and Foster Friess are well-known humanitarians, donating millions of dollars to aid organizations across the world.

The Grace Award for the Most Inspiring Movie Performance of 2012 went to Andy Garcia for his role in “For Greater Glory.” Also nominated were: Hugh Jackman, “Les Misérables”; Mauricio Kuri, “For Greater Glory”; Kristen Stewart, “Snow White and the Huntsman”; Kevin James, “Here Comes the Boom”; and Colm Wilkinson, “Les Misérables.”

The Grace Award for the Most Inspiring Television Performance of 2012 went to Kyla Kennedy, “Raising Izzie.” Also nominated were: Rockmond Dunbar, “Raising Izzie”; “Jeff Foxworthy, “The American Bible Challenge”; Tom Selleck, “Blue Bloods: The Job”; Paige Hemmis, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: Harris Family, Part 1 and 2″; and Cedrick the Entertainer, “Soul Man: Lost in the Move.”

Simon Swart, executive vice president and general manager of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and the John Templeton Fund, along with Movieguide presented the Kairos Prize for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays, with cash awards honoring grand prize winner Randall Hahn of Miami, Fla., for “Gideon” ($25,000), 1st runner-up Romeo Ciolfi of Toronto, Ont., for “Play Ball” ($15,000) and 2nd runner-up James M. De Vince of Wallingford, Conn., for “The Basketball” ($10,000).

The Kairos Prizes for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays by Beginning Screenwriters are supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

Baehr also reported the year’s Movieguide has had on the film industry. He reported:

70 percent of the Top 10 movies made in the U.S. had strong or very strong Christian, redemptive, moral or biblical content or worldviews;

90 percent of the Top 10 movies overseas had strong or very strong Christian, redemptive, biblical, moral or heroic (good conquering evil) worldviews, with all the top five being Movieguide Award winners;

Nearly three-fourths, 72 percent of the Top 25 DVD sales in North America had strong or very strong Christian, biblical, moral and/or heroic content.

Movies released in 2012 with very strong Christian worldviews averaged nearly $90.78 million per movie by the end of 2012, while movies with very strong mixed, non-Christian or anti-Christian worldviews overall averaged $20.22 million.

Movies with very strong humanist or atheist worldviews did far worse, averaging only $2.4 million.

“We discovered that, once again, the most family-friendly movies and movies with the strongest positive redemptive content and worldviews make the most money, on average, of any other kind of movie,” Baehr wrote in the 2013 report. “Also, they made a ton more money than the worst films, the ones filled with graphic violence, explicit sex and nudity, sexual perversion and false, anti-Christian worldviews, including those that promote atheism and paganism.”

Movieguide has been analyzing movies in depth since 1985, using a comprehensive rating/scoring system that helps pinpoint which movies will succeed and why.